Rob Gronkowski knows what the New York Jets should do with the plethora of draft picks they acquired ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline: get a veteran quarterback.
Gronk isn’t eyeing just any quarterback for the Jets, though.
“They need the quarterback of the future. They’re going to get it through the draft or they’re going to make a trade for a veteran that’s in their 20s right now. I saw a report, maybe Joe Burrow, possibly. Give up four or five first-rounders,” Gronkowski said on “FOX NFL Sunday.” “I mean, that’s what they have in store. They need to do something. They need a spark somehow, someway eventually.”
As Gronkowski mentioned, the Jets have the draft capital in order to make a big swing at quarterback in the near future. They have five first-round picks and three second-round picks over the 2026 and 2027 drafts, giving them a leg up over the rest of the league in draft capital.
But trading all of those picks for one player is nearly unheard of. Of course, there was the Herschel Walker trade in 1989, where the Dallas Cowboys wound up with three first-round picks, three second-round picks and a third-round pick. More recently, the Cleveland Browns sacrificed three first-round picks, a third-round pick and two fourth-round picks to get Deshaun Watson in 2022.
Burrow, though, might be worth an unprecedented haul of five first-round picks. When healthy, the 28-year-old has clearly been one of the league’s best quarterbacks. He led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in his second season in 2021 before leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns last year.
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However, that would also be a reason why you would likely have to pull the Bengals’ teeth in order to get Burrow. But while the quarterback hasn’t necessarily shown signs of frustration in Cincinnati, he has pushed the Bengals to make certain moves over the last year and they haven’t acquiesced to all his wishes. The Bengals re-signed or extended wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, along with tight end Mike Gesicki last March. However, they weren’t able to reach a longterm resolution with star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, as Burrow had asked. They were only able to rework his deal for the 2025 season instead.
Still, a possible Jets trade for Burrow might seem a bit far-fetched at the moment, which was why the rest of the “FOX NFL Sunday” crew was genuinely surprised by Gronkowski’s proposal.
“He was good until he said that part,” Michael Strahan said of Gronkowski’s Burrow remark.
However, most of the “FOX NFL Sunday” crew liked the Jets’ trade deadline moves. They traded cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for two first-round picks (2026, 2027) and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, while defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was moved to the Cowboys for two draft picks (2026 second-round pick, 2027 first-round pick) and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.
But there’s obviously still work to be done for New York.
“If you can make the picks. As Jimmy [Johnson] always says, forget the picks, it’s who you pick,” Howie Long said.
“I think the Jets, where they are right now, anything’s good for the Jets,” Strahan added.
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